10 Pastors I’m Concerned About

It’s not a secret the church has been in decline for a number of years and for a variety of reasons. You can read some statistics and views on why, here and here and here. Everyone has their opinions.

Abuse, apostasy, and irrelevance are just a few of the words that keep coming up in the search for reasons for the decline. There are a variety of compelling opinions and I even have a few of my own.

But I suggest there is another area of decline more significant and perhaps much less obvious—and one that certainly contributes to the church’s decline in numbers.

And I think its likely a careful analysis would implicate the church’s leadership for this more significant issue.

In other words, I’m concerned about pastors and the role they play in the church’s decline.

By saying so, I’m not suggesting this pastor has it all together. Nor am I trying to cultivate (or ratify) some dishonest skeptics’ hate for the church. Rather, I’m hoping to raise some concerns in a conversational kind of way.   Continue at  Peter Cockrell

Caring Enough to Wonder if What Just Happened, Happened

Mark Driscoll’s recent apology has provided for some thoughtful and edifying discussion.

And as we discuss, it’s best for us to remember a few things: We need to love and pray for him. We need to remember that we’re not omniscient. And we need to hope for the best and pray accordingly.

And in doing so, the church as the opportunity to grow from this. Questions are being raised. Ideas are being circulated. But there have been too many erroneous assertions and objections in the mix.

Here are a few categorically unhelpful ideas buzzing throughout evangelicalism regarding the Driscoll apology:

1. “Concern for the genuineness of one’s repentance is equivalent to a refusal to forgive.”

Continue at Eric Davis

Mark Driscoll’s Problems, and Ours

The recent revelation that Mars Hill Church in Seattle paid an outside company to boost sales of its pastor’s books has raised questions not simply about personal integrity but also about the very culture of American Evangelicalism.

As an English Presbyterian living in the States, I am never quite sure about whether I am an “Evangelical” by American standards. Back home, I am Evangelical without question, but here it is more complicated. I certainly hold to a traditional, orthodox Protestant faith with a strong existential twist. But American Evangelicalism is more (and sometimes much less) than that. The political commitments of the movement are, on the whole, a mystery to me. And, while the celebrity leadership of the movement is comprehensible to me in sociological terms, I find it distasteful and arguably unbiblical. It too often seems to represent exactly what Paul was criticizing in 1 Corinthians 1.   Continue at Carl Trueman

7 Ways The Lord Uses Depression in the Life of a Minister

The Minister’s Fainting Fits, has proven to be one of the most personally helpful chapters in Spurgeon’s Lectures to My Students. There he writes:

Knowing by most painful experience what deep depression of spirit means, being visited therewith at seasons by no means few or far between, I thought it might be consolatory to some of my brethren if I gave my thoughts thereon…It is not necessary by quotations from the biographies of eminent ministers to prove that seasons of fearful prostration have fallen to the lot of most, if not all of them.

I am one of those ministers that battles seasons of deep depression. (I’ve chronicled my struggle elsewhere). These “fits of melancholy” can be quite confusing to the pastor. In the midst of darkness we are pressed to wonder how in the world we will deliver a sermon on Sunday morning, counsel the struggling, and lead the faithful. I’ve said with John Piper, “Have mercy on me. I must preach on Sunday, and I can scarcely lift my head.”    Continue at Mike Leake

Five Benefits of Asking God to Hurry

There’s something I’ve been praying about. The church where I serve as pastor needs a part-time worship leader. Our present leader has served us well, but his schedule is changing and he plans to step down. So, of course, I’ve been networking, calling, posting on church employment sites — and praying. 

 

So far, God has not provided — and the problem is that I need him to provide soon. I can hear the clock ticking. The deadline is approaching. What are we going to do without a worship leader? Yes, I’m starting to worry.

So How Should I Pray?

I could just keep praying, “Father, please provide us with a new worship leader” — and leave it at that. But the Bible shows us more. You’ll notice that the psalmists often ask God to hurry.

This is all throughout the Psalms:

But you, O Lᴏʀᴅ, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! (Psalm 22:19) 

Make haste to help me, O Lᴏʀᴅ, my salvation! (Psalm 38:22)

Be pleased, O Lᴏʀᴅ, to deliver me! O Lᴏʀᴅ, make haste to help me! (Psalm 40:13)   Continue at Steve Fuller

What I Wish I'd Known: Reflections on Nearly 40 Years of Pastoral Ministry

What follows has been adapted from a brief talk I delivered to the Oklahoma chapter of The Gospel Coalition on October 2. Here are 10 things I wish I'd known when I first started out as a pastor.

1. I wish I'd known that people who disagree with me on doctrines I hold dearly can often love God and pursue his glory with as much, and in some cases more, fervency than I do. The sort of intellectual pride that fuels such delusions can be devastating to ministry and will invariably undermine any efforts at broader Christian unity across denominational lines.

2. I wish I'd known about the inevitable frustration that comes when you put your trust in what you think are good reasons why people should remain loyal to your ministry and present in your church. I wish I'd been prepared for the feelings of betrayal and disillusionment that came when people in whom I'd personally invested so much love, time, and energy simply walked away, often with the most insubstantial and flimsiest of excuses.   Continue at Sam Storms

Re: Mark Driscoll

There are lots of people who want Mark Driscoll to fail and fall. I am not one of them. I love and respect Pastor Mark. His preaching helped saved my life. I have profited immensely from his ministry, especially in my early days of church planting and trying to figure out what missional ministry could look like among young adults. I do not know Mark personally. We have never exchanged so much as email messages. But we have mutual friends. He was kind enough to endorse my first book. During my time with the Docent Research Group, I did some editing work on a few of his book manuscripts. When I wrote the piece linked above, he was gracious enough to send a note of thanks and encouragement through his personal assistant. It touched me deeply. I want to repeat: I do not want Pastor Mark to fail and fall. I just want him to walk in step with the truth of the gospel.

I would “confront” him to his face if I could. Even though this is not a Matthew 18 situation, and Pastor Mark has not sinned against me personally, last week I tried to contact him privately through the two avenues available to me, but I received no response. I did not demand or even expect one. I know Pastor Mark is a very busy man, and since we do not really know each other, he has no obligation to me, and I don’t mean to suggest he does. He doesn’t. And if I’d had the opportunity to speak to him, as I requested, I would have done so respectfully and gently. I do hope what I’m writing right now will not be read as unkind or argumentative or ungraciously accusatory.   Continue at Jared Wilson

Ways to Love the Church More

Let me say this plainly: I love the people of Grace Fellowship Church. I totally felt what John Piper was saying in a recent interview on his experience as a pastor at Bethlehem:

I never felt that I was the church’s privilege, but that she is mine. To be at Bethlehem was gift, all gift.

I have felt that to be my reality in increasing measure since we planted, almost three years ago now. And I know that Paul, my fellow pastor, feels the same way.

That being said, I have known enough churches and enough pastors over the years to realize that the relationship between pastor and congregation isn’t always exclusively a love-in. Even in the privileged ministry that the Lord has given me, there have been opportunities for anger, strife, malice, bitterness, and all the rest of that to take root.

So how do we fight those temptations when they come? Here are some ways I’ve found helpful to grow in love for the members of the church:   Continue at Julian Freeman

Pastors and Vacations

Two years ago I spoke to a pastor about his church. After he shared with me all the areas in which he had been involved and the ministries he led, I asked him an innocent question: When do you take vacation? His answer flabbergasted me. “I don’t,” he said.

I thought maybe he had misunderstood me, so I clarified. In the past six years that you have served as pastor, when did you take a vacation? “I haven’t,” he reiterated. I had heard him right the first time. This pastor had deprived himself and his family for the past six years. I anticipated burnout was not far away.

Unfortunately, I was right.

Why Some Pastors Get Little or No Vacation

I do think the pastor I encountered was an exception, but I have spoken to more than one pastor who has skipped vacations for a year or two or even three. Some of you may know of pastors who have excessive vacations or who abuse the vacations given to them, but those pastors are the exceptions.

Rare exceptions.   Continue at Thom Rainer

35 Lessons From 35 Years as a Pastor

Thirty-five years ago this month I began serving my first church as pastor. The Rock Prairie Baptist Church in College Station, Texas took a major risk on a senior Texas A&M student by issuing me a call to be their pastor. It was my happy privilege to serve them for nearly two years before being called to the Spring Valley Baptist Church in Dallas. I am currently in my twenty-eighth year of serving Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, Florida.

As I recently reflected on the last thirty-five years I wrote down some lessons learned and convictions I’ve come to or continued to hold. Here are thirty-five of them.

1. Long-term perspective helps you to endure and to think wisely about immediate problems.
2. The kingdom of God does not—and will not—skip a beat when I am sidelined.
3. The church is more important than I thought when I started.
4. Some of my words and actions to which I am most oblivious can be hurtful to people.
5. Pastoral ministry is indeed, as John Newton puts it, “a bitter full of sweet” and “a sorrow full of joy.”
6. Christians are the greatest people in the world.
7. Christians are capable of the most wicked actions in the world.  Continue at Tom Ascol

Ministry Isn't For Wimps

The blessings of ministry far outweigh the realities below; however, ministry is definitely not easy. Don’t waste your time and money going to seminary or college for pastoral training if you are not prepared for the negative aspects of ministry mentioned below. Furthermore, always remember that God has called you to love His church, not merely His mature church, but His immature church, as well. Moreover, a call to ministry is a call to bleed.

If you enter pastoral ministry …

10. Not everyone will like you.

9. You will make people angry regardless of how godly you handle yourself; it comes with the position.

8. You will feel like a failure often, and when you do appear to succeed, the fruit that is produced cannot be accredited to you. God alone gives the increase (1 Cor. 3:7). Thus, there is little “sense of accomplishment in ministry” that you may be accustomed to in other vocations.   Continue at Jared Moore

Eight Ways Leaders Make Themselves Vulnerable to Spiritual Attack

New Testament writers warn us again and again about the reality of spiritual attack. The apostle Paul, a leader extraordinaire, challenged believers to wear the full armor of God (Eph. 6:11), being ever aware of the enemy’s schemes (2 Cor. 2:11). The leader of the church at Jerusalem, James, called followers of Christ to resist the devil (Jms. 4:7). Peter, the leader among Jesus’ apostles, warned against the adversary who seeks someone to devour like a roaring lion (1 Pet. 5:8). It is no wonder, then, Paul reminded the church to choose leaders who are not set up for the devil’s traps (1 Tim. 3:6-7).

Based on years of my studying spiritual warfare, here are eight ways I’ve seen leaders allow themselves to be vulnerable to the enemy’s arrows:

1. We focus on others, often to the neglect of ourselves. We are caregivers, rightly recognizing our responsibility to watch over the souls of others (Heb. 13:17). As pastors or lay leaders, we want to love people who re hurting, guide young believers, challenge older believers, and influence our community. Ministry, after all, is about others. When we neglect our own spiritual and physical well being in the process, though, we make ourselves susceptible to the enemy.

2. We replace spiritual disciplines with ministry activity. Church leaders can always find something else to do. There are always others to reach and many to train. Hospitalized church members beckon. Broken marriages need counseling. So many are the ministry hours we put in that we’re tempted to remind others of our sacrifice. Too little time is left for personal spiritual disciplines—and the enemy’s target is on our back.    Continue at Chuck Lawless

Paul on Women Speaking in Church by B. B. Warfield

I have recently received a letter from a valued friend asking me to send him a “discussion of the Greek words laleo and lego in such passages as 1 Corinthians 14:33-39, with special reference to the question: Does the thirty-fourth verse forbid all women everywhere to speak or preach publicly in Christian churches?” The matter is of universal interest, and I take the liberty of communicating my reply to the readers of The Presbyterian.

It requires to be said at once that there is no problem with reference to the relations of laleo and lego. Apart from niceties of merely philological interest, these words stand related to one another just as the English words speak and say do; that is to say, laleo expresses the act of talking, while lego refers to what is said. Wherever then the act of speaking, without reference to the content of what is said, is to be indicated, laleo is used, and must be used. There is nothing disparaging in the intimation of the word, any more than there is in our word talk; although, of course, it can on occasion be used disparagingly as our word talk can also — as when some of the newspapers intimate that the Senate is given over to mere talk. This disparaging application of laleo, however, never occurs in the New Testament, although the word is used very frequently.   Continue at Eric T. Young

A Call to Ministry is a Call to Bleed

“38And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (ESV). Matthew 10:38-39 

 

Has God called you to the ministry?

After being raised by Christian parents and attending evangelical churches for 17 years (my whole life), I repented and trusted in Christ alone for my salvation. A year later, I believed I was called to ministry, made this belief public at Gum Springs Baptist Church in Walling, TN. Following a 10 month internship, and after being called to serve at another local church as youth pastor, Gum Springs ordained me to the gospel ministry. I can remember the excitement of my first ministry position. I was amazed at the privilege of preaching the gospel, and I couldn’t wait to help other Christians use their spiritual gifts, and make hundreds of disciples. My bubble was burst pretty quickly.  I soon realized that not everyone in the church wanted to use their gifts to build up other Christians for God’s glory. I also realized that I had no power to bring sinners to repentance and faith in Christ. 

So, you think you’re called to the ministry?  Based on my experience, and in light of Scripture, here are three thoughts to consider before you enter the ministry:   Continue at Jared Moore

Thirty Things I’ve Learned in Thirty Years of Ministry

It was thirty years ago that I began serving a small rural church in southern Indiana. I was so incredibly green then; I’m glad I didn’t always realize it. I loved those people in that church and, for some reason, they loved me too. I had to be one of the most inept pastors in history, but they just continued to show me grace and love me even more.

Now, three decades later, I reflect back on what I’ve learned in ministry. Some lessons came rather naturally; others were very painful.

1. God is always faithful. Always. Always. Always.
2. My family is my greatest gift beyond my salvation. I wish I always realized it.
3. I spent too much time worrying about things that I can’t even remember today.
4. I took too many criticisms personally. Most critics weren’t mad at me.
5. I always grow stronger when I spend time in the Word and in prayer.
6. My wife endured a lot in our ministry. I needed to minister to her more.
7. When I can laugh at myself, I am more effective in ministry.
8. I learned to be more compassionate through the deaths of my parents and grandson. I can now understand the pain many experience.   Continue at Thom Rainer

Has God Called You? Discerning the Call to Preach

Has God called you to ministry? Though all Christians are called to serve the cause of Christ, God calls certain persons to serve the Church as pastors and other ministers. Writing to young Timothy, the Apostle Paul confirmed that if a man aspires to be a pastor, “it is a fine work he aspires to do” (1 Tim 3:1, NASB). Likewise, it is a high honor to be called of God into the ministry of the Church. How do you know if God is calling you?

First, there is an inward call. Through His Spirit, God speaks to those persons He has called to serve as pastors and ministers of His Church. The great Reformer Martin Luther described this inward call as “God’s voice heard by faith.” Those whom God has called know this call by a sense of leading, purpose, and growing commitment.

Charles Spurgeon identified the first sign of God’s call to the ministry as “an intense, all-absorbing desire for the work.” Those called by God sense a growing compulsion to preach and teach the Word, and to minister to the people of God.   Continue at Al Mohler

7 Tips for My Younger Preacher Self

One of my fellow elders teaches at a local seminary. He sometimes invites me to speak to his students from a pastor's perspective about sermon preparation, preaching, and church ministry. During a recent lecture, one of the students asked me, "If you could go back and give advice to yourself as a beginning preacher, what would you say?"

I've been preaching now for more than 15 years. I don't know if that's enough time to make me a Jedi Knight preacher who's fit to train newbies. But it does feel long enough to think of what advice I would give to myself if I could go back in time.

Here are seven suggestions for new preachers based on self-reflection, as well as from observing new preachers over the past decade and a half.

1. Preach the Word

This first word of advice should go without saying, which probably means we need to say it a lot: preach the Word. Commit at the outset of your ministry to expository preaching. What is expository preaching? It's when the preacher makes the point of the text to be the point of his sermon, which is then applied to the congregation.    Continue at Jeramie Rinne

10 Ways to Delegate But Not Frustrate

I remember my first day on a new job I had been trying to get for a while. I was nervous, excited, young, but eager to get my fledgling career going on a big project under the oversight of my new bosses. The project manager drove me out to the nearly 1000-acre job site, at which basically a small town was being constructed. We visited what, to me, seemed like a mad frenzy of contractors, over-sized haul trucks, trackhoes, upset foremen, all scattered about with no rhyme or reason. The next day my boss said something like, “Well, we’re going to throw you in the fire. Here are some documents. Have fun!” Needless to say, as time went on, I made some costly mistakes and grew frustrated, both at myself and the lack of direction and communication from my new leadership.

Too often church leadership teams can treat dear saints this way in the local church. What can happen is people, who love Christ, will take initiative, or respond to requests, to function as a body part and be obedient to use their giftedness. They have the humility to fill a need as a ministry leader, yet existing can often say, “Great, we’re going to throw you in the fire, have fun!” without clear task definition and encouragement. Understandably, serving under this type of leadership can easily result in frustrated sheep.   Continue at Eric Davis

Ten Things I’ve Learned about Pastors in Two Years

Though this blog is four years old, I did not get serious about the pace of my blogging until about two years ago. If you have spent any time at my blog, you know that I devote a lot of my writings to local church matters in general, and to pastors specifically.

The world of the pastor is not unknown to me. I served as a lead pastor in four churches and, when I was a seminary dean, as an interim pastor in eight more churches. I also served as a church consultant for about 20 years before coming to LifeWay.

But it has been at this blog the past two years that I really feel like I know pastors more in breadth and depth than ever before. I hear from them in the comments of the posts. Others read my posts and leave comments at Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. Some choose the privacy of direct messages on Twitter. They number in the thousands.

If you read my posts, you know I often like to do numerical lists. I will do so here, but I struggled to stop at ten. Perhaps I will continue the list later. For now, here are ten things I’ve learned about pastors in the past two years.

1. They truly sense God’s call in their lives. It’s not just another job for them; it is, as one pastor told me, “an inescapable reality.”
2. They love their churches and the members. The metaphor of “shepherd” is truly appropriate for these pastors. They care deeply for those they serve.    Continue at Thom Rainer

Depression and the Ministry, Part 1: The Setup

Editor's Note: The following is part one of a five-part series on depression and the ministry. The series is a joint effort of the Biblical Counseling Coalition and The Gospel Coalition.

• Garrett Higbee, Part 2: Occupational Hazards
• Steve Viars, Part 3: A Ministry Sabbatical
• Jeremy Lelek, Part 4: The Need for Wise Disclosure
• Bob Kellemen, Part 5: Facing Depression with Christ

**********

Sam’s Story

I was there the week it happened. His wife asked to see me. Tearfully she told me that he had walked into the church building that week and announced to his staff that he was “done.” He said he couldn’t face preaching another sermon; that all that he really wanted to do was to run away from his own life. Sam was 45 and the pastor of a vibrant and growing church.

I am convinced that there are important changes needed in pastoral culture and that the number of pastors who find themselves in the range from discouraged to depressed give clear evidence of this. Let me suggest four potential setups of this discouragement/depression cycle in ministry.

Setup #1: Unrealistic Expectations

 

I taught a class at Westminster Seminary on pastoral care and was impressed year after year about how unrealistic the expectations of my future-pastor students were. Year after year my students seemed to forget the two things that consistently make pastoral ministry hard. What are they? The harsh reality of life in a dramatically broken world and what remaining sin does to the hearts of us all. These two things make pastoral ministry a day by day spiritual war.  Continue at Paul Tripp